Some raw fooders choose to not eat sprouted grains; instead they suggest
fruit instead. Some of the arguments made include the following:

* fruit is closer to the sun than grain = more solar energy
* one can eat fruit in its natural state, while grains in their natural
  state are not appealing
* fruit supposedly involves less violence in its production

However, the issue is not as simple as it may appear at first glance.
The first complication is that grains (and all other seeds) are fruits
according to the botanical definition.  So in comparing grains to fruit
one is comparing grains to the common definition of fruit, i.e. the
product of tree, vine, or shrub.

The second major complication is that as purchased in many countries,
both fruits and grains have been processed to varying degrees. This
requires one to do comparisons in theory and in practice. As the real
world practice is more familiar to readers, it is best to start with
that case. Comparison of grains and fruits on a number of issues is given
below. Note that references are made to the energy or food energy of fruit
and grain. This refers to the item's life force energy, not its calorie
value. Life force energy is degraded by refrigeration, age, heat, and
other factors.

Preparation
Most fruit can be eaten raw and is easily prepared; most fruit is in the
wash and serve category. A few fruits are generally eaten cooked - olives
(very bitter when raw, need curing), breadfruit, breadnut, etc.
Raw grains are effectively inedible unless soaked or, better, sprouted.
Once sprouted they are in the wash and serve category also.

Production - Method
Pesticides and other chemicals are commonly used on fruits and grains.
If grown organically there is usually less exposure to chemicals. However
the definition of organic is no *synthetic* chemicals used - many toxic,
so-called "natural" chemicals can legally be used on organic produce.

Production - Land
Tropical fruits are often grown on land that used to be rainforest. That
is an issue to some; others consider land clearing for food production to
be 100% legitimate and ethical. The same issue applies to land cleared for
grain, though most grain is grown in temperate countries, and the people
who are upset about tropical rainforests rarely complain about loss of
temperate zone land.

Harvest
Most grain is harvested when fully mature and "ripe"; harvest too early
can increase the risk of storage problems (spoilage due to mold).
Many types of fruits are harvested when mature but not ripe to allow time
for shipping and sale. The result is often that one purchases immature
fruit that is acid-forming instead of alkaline-forming in digestion
(a real problem with nectarines). Some types of fruit are picked mature
and must ripen off the tree, e.g., many types of avocadoes don't ripen
properly on the tree.

Storage
Grains are seeds, a natural storage form. Commercial grains may be
fumigated with poisons to prevent insect infestation; organic grains are
generally not fumigated. Grains can be stored for long periods with little
or no nutrient/food energy loss.  Some fruits are held for weeks or even
months in cold-storage, with significant losses in nutrients, food energy,
and flavor. The typical example of this is Washington state apples, which
this writer considers inedible and a non-food. Other fruits that may be
cold-stored include peaches and nectarines (late in their seasons),
avocados, kiwis.

Processing for Market
Grains may be hulled and then packaged for market.
Fruits may be colored, waxed for sale. Additionally some fruits may be
gassed with ethylene to control ripening. This is not so common with
organic fruit.  Additionally, most fruit is refrigerated at some point
in the path to the consumer. Refrigeration can sharply reduce the food
energy of the fruit.

Shipping - Fumigation
Fumigation of fruits is common, especially if from tropical countries
(to prevent import of fruit flies and other insect pests). Some fruit is
subjected to heat treatment (papayas, mangoes) while other fruits are
treated with cold (refrigerated at near freezing for several days)
instead. Both heat treatment and cold treatment will reduce the nutrient
and energy level of the fruit; heat treatment (150+ degrees F) may destroy
some enzymes.  Imported grain may be fumigated; however the U.S. and
Canada are major grain producers and imports to North America are limited.

Shipping - Distance/Efficiency
Because grain, when sprouted, increases in volume and weight by a factor
of 2 or more, and there are no peels or wasted parts, grain is very
efficient in regards to shipping.  Those who live in temperate zones and
demand fresh fruit in the winter end up eating fruit shipped from (distant)
warm areas; also due to spoilage and peels, inedible seeds, etc., shipping
fruit is not as efficient as grain. Drying fruit is an option, but drying
also reduces food energy, and dried fruit when eaten in excess can cause
flatulence and acid indigestion.  Freezing is another option, but eating
too much frozen food can depress your digestive fire, and frozen food is
much lower in life force energy than fresh.

Practical Case: Summary
In the real world, the comparison of fruit versus sprouted grains boils
down to fruit, which tastes better but which was probably picked at a
non-optimal time and shipped long distances (during which it loses food
energy, the life force of the fruit) against grains which don't taste as
good, but which a) have not lost food energy or life force in shipping
and storage, and b) because one sprouts them, the sprouts are actually
*increasing* in nutrient value and food/life force energy. Most fruit
begins to decrease in nutrient and energy value from the moment it is
picked, while grains if sprouted actually *increase*!

Theoretical Case: A Very Different Situation Indeed
In a theoretically ideal situation, you produce your own fruits and grains.
Then one can pick and eat the fruits at the optimal time, and there is no
shipping, refrigeration, or other processing to reduce the food energy.
Similarly, if one grows grain one can avoid toxic chemicals and so on.
Here the two seem to be quite comparable, almost even. Of course sprouts
are still a food that is increasing in value and fruits decreasing; however
this is mostly an academic difference when you can get high quality fruit
picked at the optimal time (as energy losses are minimal then). In this
case one would eat fruit when in season, and sprouted grain at other times.

Answering the Original Arguments

* fruit is closer to the sun than grain = more solar energy
True, but when one eats fruit one is usually eating what is effectively
a seed package, and it has limited life force. In eating sprouted grains
one is eating, in juvenile form, *multiple* life forces, which suggests
one may be eating more energy when eating sprouts.

* one can eat fruit in its natural state, while grains in their natural
state are not appealing
True, but grains are easily sprouted which makes their flavor more
appealing.  It also makes them easy to digest. Those who eat nuts and
seeds in their "natural state" = unsoaked, would greatly benefit from
soaking and/or sprouting them when possible!

* fruit supposedly involves less violence in its production
Very questionable. In practice fruit is generally shipped long distances
and refrigerated, a process that requires much fossil fuel energy which
causes pollution. Grain is very probably more energy efficient, with the
result of less pollution.  Picking fruit does not kill the tree; however
grains are generally harvested when the plants are at the very end of
their life cycle - the plants are usually already dead or dying. Of course
eating sprouted grain can be seen as violence against the sprouts, however
it is impossible to live without killing (simply breathing will kill
bacteria). Accordingly, which is more violent - 1 kilogram of wheat
organically grown and sprouted, or a case of pineapples, weighing 12 kg.
and shipped halfway around the world, also fumigated, sprayed, and
refrigerated? (1 kg. of dry wheat = 3 kg sprouted = say, 10 meals or so;
12 kg pineapple = 8 kg after topping, peeling, coring = 10 large meals
(as pineaple is juicy and very tasty, one will eat more of it).

Closing Remarks
The above is a quick summary of topics for discussion in comparing
sprouted grains and fruits. Each item could be a separate discussion by
itself; only a brief summary has been given. The lists above are also
incomplete; I've probably left off some important topics.  Additions to
the lists and comments are welcome. Consider the above as a first draft
or a work-in-progress...

P.S. I suggest eating both sprouts and fruits - they are complementary.

Tom Billings
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